Alberto Gonzales Politician
Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) was the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic in executive government to date. He was the first Hispanic to serve as White House Counsel, and earlier he had been Bush's General Counsel during his governorship of Texas. Gonzales had also served as Secretary of State of Texas and then as a Texas Supreme Court Justice.Gonzales's tenure as U.S. Attorney General was marked by controversy regarding warrantless surveillance and the legal authorization of so-called "Enhanced interrogation techniques", generally acknowledged as constituting torture. Following bipartisan calls for his removal, Gonzales resigned from the office "in the best interests of the department", on August 27, 2007, effective September 17, 2007. Democrats were particularly opposed to Gonzales for his role in the firings of several U.S. Attorneys which they believed had caused his office to become improperly politicized.In 2008, Gonzales began a mediation and consulting practice. Additionally, he taught a political science course and served as a diversity recruiter at Texas Tech University. Gonzales is currently the Dean of Belmont University College of Law, in Nashville, Tennessee where he currently teaches Constitutional Law, Separation of Powers, National Security Law and First Amendment Law. He is also counsel at a Nashville-based law firm, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, where he advises clients on special matters, government investigations and regulatory matters. He often writes opinion pieces for national newspapers and appears on national news programs.
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| service end | 1975 |
| service start | 1973 |
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